There's a sense of deja vu as Gary Gardner prepares to return to Aston Villa training.

Indeed, he was in exactly the same scenario at the end of last season. Then, the midfielder had spent a spell on loan with Nottingham Forest in the Championship.

Once Forest's campaign ended, there was time for Gardner to return to Aston Villa for a few weeks of training. He did so but failed to register any playing time, largely as it was too late. Now, he is raring to go once more, tweeting his excitement that he returns to practice ahead of the new season on Monday.

Pre-season will likely be far more grueling for the 22-year-old than the mid-season routines, with a focus on fitness so intense Fulham striker Matt Smith recently admitted to Sky Sports throwing up is far from uncommon for professional footballers.

Can Gardner make an impact at Aston Villa after his Nottingham Forest spell? He certainly has the potential and will surely be given the chance by boss Tim Sherwood. No wonder the youngster is looking forward to the new Premier League campaign.

Tim Poole

Tim Poole is a sports journalist for HITC with a love of football, tennis and snooker in particular.His career to date has seen him speak to former Manchester United boss David Moyes, interview snooker world champion Mark Selby and be snubbed by Premier League managers and players in more than one language!He is a massive Roger Federer fan and lives by the motto that 'sport is life.' When he's not writing about it, he's playing it, be it football, tennis, basketball, badminton, table tennis, darts, snooker, golf or even water polo. He is better at some than others...